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The Orlando Magic have a great chance to improve their roster in the 2021 NBA Draft, armed with the fifth and eighth overall picks. That latter first-round selection came in Orlando’s blockbuster trade that sent Nikola Vucevic to the Chicago Bulls.
Check out our Magic draft preview, which features a complete list of Orlando’s selections, our mock draft of who they’re likely to get, analysis of the team’s prospective selections and potential trade scenarios.
Sportsnaut’s NBA Mock Draft – Click Here
Listed at 6-foot-9, Florida State’s Scottie Barnes actually has a nearly 7-foot-3 wingspan. Combine that with phenomenal athleticism and a fierce competitive streak, and it makes for a pretty fantastic player.
Barnes leaves something to be desired on the offensive end as a scorer, yet his ability to guard every position on the court and high basketball IQ make him a hard prospect to pass up at fifth overall. Orlando needs a lengthy wing defender, especially after trading Aaron Gordon to the Denver Nuggets.
What’s also great about Barnes is that he’s a capable and willing passer who will routinely make the right play for his teammates. He averaged 4.1 assists per contest for the Seminoles, which is ideal for a Magic squad that had the third-fewest assists in the NBA during the 2020-21 campaign.
Funny enough, 247Sports compared Jonathan Kuminga to former Magic lottery pick Jonathan Isaac. He’s similar to Barnes in a lot of ways in terms of defensive versatility, but Kuminga’s game has a little more upside to it.
The thing is, Kuminga seems to represent more of a risk-reward than Barnes. In Kuminga’s 13 games in the G League, he shot only 38.7% from the field and 24.6% from 3-point range on five attempts per game.
Not having Isaac for all of this last season and losing point guard Markelle Fultz after just eight contests doomed Orlando. Nevertheless, the rest of the squad didn’t really step up defensively, ranking 26th in defensive rating.
Whether it’s Barnes or Kuminga, Orlando has the advantage of having another top-10 selection. It can afford to go a little bold with this No. 5 pick, so maybe Kuminga’s ceiling will be too tantalizing to pass up, as opposed to a seemingly safer option in Barnes.
Loading up on wing players might seem counterintuitive, considering oft-injured shooting guard Gary Harris is entering a contract year, and Markelle Fultz is an unreliable 3-pointer. In other words, you’d think the Magic would go after perimeter offense here.
But what’s the harm in trying to build a defensive juggernaut and filling out the need for outside shooting by other means?
Maybe Orlando won’t be able to resist going with a better shooter here like Arkansas’ Moses Moody. However, in our mock, we have the Magic getting Tennessee defensive specialist Keon Johnson. He’s more of a shooting guard than a small forward, but can play well at the 3 if Orlando sees him as a better fit there.
Johnson averaged 10.3 points for the Volunteers, and although it’s not always true, his 70.3% free throw clip suggests his jump shot has room to improve once he has several years of NBA experience under his belt.
For the past decade or so, Orlando is where young talent has gone to waste away or eventually be traded. The only potentially big hit you could argue for is Isaac, and he’s coming off a torn ACL.
If the Magic stay pat, they have two swings at the plate inside the top 10. Perhaps they can unearth a surprise superstar with one of those choices to join with Fultz and Isaac as part of a legitimate foundation to build around.
This organization is desperate for a winner, and just needs to make smart decisions so that Orlando becomes an attractive free-agent destination. Otherwise, it’ll take hitting the lottery in the draft to really make big strides in the coming years.